African Renaissance Conference 24- 26 May 2018

Emirates’ Durban-Dubai route takes off

Emirates’ daily flight out of the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in Durban is the only international year-long flight from Durban and is performing well and providing a wealth of connectivity options through the airline’s Dubai hub.

This is according to Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa, Emirates Airline. “Just by looking at passenger growth, it is clear that ourconfidence in the gateway was well placed.” says Abbas.

During December 2013 and January 2014, Emirates flew two extra flights between Durban and Dubai to satisfy the demand from the market. “The average load factor on the sector has been growingsince we opened the gateway in 2009, which led us to replace the Airbus A330-200 with the new 354-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a twoclass configuration, offering Emirates’ renowned First Classcabin product,” says Abbas.The new aircraft type has boosted passenger capacity by close to 30 percent. Emirates has been keen to respond to demand from South African travellers and remain flexible, including where needed puttingon additional flights to cater for the seasonal demand.

Dubai provides an excellent, seamless gateway to Europe, Asia and a range of destinations on Emirates’ global network and is also a strong tourist destination in its own right - the city’s vibrant night life, Dubai fountains, Ski Dubai, Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa all proving popular with the discerningSouth African traveller. In addition, Dubai boasts some of the best retail centres, events and beaches in the world, adding to this appeal is the emirate’s safe and secure environs, an important criterion for tourists when on holiday.

“The numbers continue to be encouraging. There are many reasons why the sector hasbeaten expectations. Dubai has emerged as a holiday destination of choice and a dominant global travel hub. On the network, we have seen a healthy growth year-on-year in passenger numbers on our Durban-Dubai route, with traffic connecting to the Indian sub-continent, Far East and Europe,” said Fouad Caunhye, Regional Manager, Southern Africa for Emirates Airline. Emirates operates six daily flights between South Africa and Dubai and onwards to India where Emirates has an unparalleled reach with as many as 185 weekly flights across 10 major cities.

The number of South Africans engaging in leisure outbound travel is increasing to these destinations, with the visiting friends and family (VFR) traffic becoming a major contributor to the sustainability of theroute. Inbound, Durban is one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations and the introduction of the new Boeing 777 was a direct response to increasing passenger demand on this route.Overall, South Africa is one of Emirates’ most important markets. During last year, the airline’s passenger numbers from all its three gateways surpassed the 65 0000 mark for the first time. This represents an increase of 12 percent over the 2012 financial year. In addition to boosting tourism in the region,

Durban’s increasing influence as one of the key trading hubs in South Africa also brings with it immense potential for Emirates SkyCargo with exports including automobile and machinery parts,engineering tools, clothing, consumer goods, as well as electronics.

Emirates currently serves more than 140 destinations around the globe with a young, technologically-advanced fleet of 218 wide-bodied aircraft that are equipped with industryleading comforts. Additionally,Emirates has the largest fleet of Airbus A380s with the 50th A380 scheduled to be added to the fleet over the coming months.